Recently, Resident Evil legend and former Capcom employee Shinji Mikami made it pretty clear that there was no room in the modern gaming era for a Dino Crisis renewal. This is despite the fact that it's the most-wanted Capcom revival that fans are after. Given this, it's not ??surprisin??g that people are deciding to forge their own path instead.

As noted by DSO Gaming, fans have been attempting to create unofficial remakes of Dino Crisis, and there's another one in the pipeline. Called Project Crisis, the developer has shown off an announcement trailer for the game, which is being built in Unreal Engine (UE4 specifically, according to ??the report).

The teaser above is brief, but gives a little dollop of what may come. However, as it's very much a work-in-progress, it's likely that things will change as development moves on. Ther??e's no information about when we can expect it to release, but?? we do know it's "coming soon" to Itch.io.

If it comes out at all

Given that this is a project not officially endorsed by Capcom, we can expect this fan remake to hit quite a few barriers along the way. DSO suggests that, as exciting as it would be to see Dino Crisis make a comeback, it's unlikely to be as polished as something like the Resident Evil 2 remake, and the ?original developer/publisher may not be pleased with people tinkering with its IP, even if?? the company itself isn't doing anything with it.

It would be a shame if the plug did get pulled, but we may get lucky. The video is probably enough to whet the collective whistles of those who remember the original 1999 survival horror game, especially as the last one we got was Dino Crisis 3 way back in 2003. Sadly, this last entry was not exactly well received, with a Metacritic score of just 51%.

Mikami's reasoning behind Dino Crisis probably not being given another shot is basically down to Monster Hunter. The hit Capcom series is evidently filling a hole that seems to render a game about fighting dinosaurs moot at this point. He goes on to say that he was surprised to see fans are eager for a new game in the long-d??ormant franchise, but it definitely looks like it's not going to be happening any time soon.

We can only hope the studio has a change of heart, or we at least get to experience Project Crisis before the lawyers get involved.

The post If Capcom won’t revisit Dino Crisis, fans will simply make their own appeared first on Destructoid.

Following an action-packed demo, a launch date has been locked in for Iron Meat. Heavily inspired by Contra with an extra helping of body horror, Retroware's run-and-gunner hits consoles and PC on September 26, ??2024.

When Iron Meat touches down, it'll be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, itch.io, and Epic Games Store. There's also an ex?clusive limited edition on the way to PS5 and Switch from Strictly Lim?ited. These will be the only physical versions released around the world.

You can see more of the pulsating, oozing 2D action in the releas?e ?date trailer:

Strictly Limited is dubbing its physical release of Iron Meat a "Speed Run," as it will arrive day and date with the digital release. They promise "no pre-order or additional waiting time," with more details to come soon. 

I really enjoyed the couple of stages I got to play of Iron Meat. It sticks incredibly close to the template Konami's Contra series provided, ?but the action set pieces, enemies, and boss designs left me wanting to see what else it has in store. 

Also like Contra, Iron Meat lets two players get together for some classic couch co-op. There are 30 unlockable skins, as well, each with interchangeable parts. Now you won't have to run and gun through the whole thing looking like a dollar store Probotector. I may come for the gory side-scrolling action, but I'm willing to stay for a little Iron Meat fashion mix-and-matching. 

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It feels like only yesterday that I poured hours into binge-watching YouTube videos of other people playing through Papers, Please while waiting f?or it to download so I could play it myself, but to my horror, it actually released more than a dec??ade ago. 

I first encountered Papers, Please when Jacksepticeye did his play-through eight years ago (he’s played it again since, four years ago) and immediately rushed to download the game. It appealed to my inner ??detective, my knack for discovering secrets and my desire to pay attention to detail. 

The game, developed by Lucas Pope and published by 3039, became a phenomenon, receiving hundreds of millions, maybe even billions of views on YouTube alone. On Steam alone it’s been downloaded 4.3 million times and has won a lot of awards, including the BAFTA Games Award for Strategy and Simulation, New Yorker Best Game of the Year 2013, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at IGF 2014.

Now, in 2024, a new game by independent developer Ignacio Alvarado has hit the scene and is giving people nostalgia for the glory days of Papers, Please  â€?That’s Not My Neighbor. 

That’s Not My Neighbor

That’s Not My Neighbor is set in February 1955, and you’ve just been hired as a doorman in an apartment block that's been plagued with recent disasters involving Doppelgan??gers. It’s your job to appraise residents as they enter the building, trying to discern whether they’re the real deal or a dopp?elganger.

To do this, you have a few tools and documents at your disposal, just as you did when playing Papers, Please; Resident ledger, the expected ?visitor list and also documents provided by the ‘resident�when they try to enter. Using your wits (and memory, but more on that later), you’ll need? to prevent doppelgangers from slipping past because, if they do, you and some of your neighbors will die. 

Did I mention that the doppe?lgangers have ??murderous intentions?

If you suspect someone to be a doppelganger, you have the choice to press the emergency alarm and call the DDD (Doppelganger Detection Department), who will proceed to initiate the "cleaning protocol." This all happens behind a closed shutter, and I don’t want to know what goes on back there, but whatever it is, you just?? have to hope you didn’t subject your actual neighbor to it. 

Sometimes, figuring out who is a doppelganger is rema??rkably easy, thanks to their extra eyes or other questionable features. Other times, you’re going to have to look at everything with great care and attention or even use the phone to call up to their apartment to make sure the real neighbor isn’t home. 

The worst part is that you don’t find out until the end of the day whether you’ve succeeded in keeping th??e doppelgangers out, and if even one has slipped past, there’s a jumpscare waiting for you. 

There is one stark difference between Papers, Please and That’s Not My Neighbor, aside from the very noticeable difference in art style. In Papers, Please, you?? have the ability to move documents around your screen an?d keep them open in order to compare details.

In That’s Not My Neighbor, you don’t have this ability. At times, the game becomes a tes??t of your memory more than anything else, considering that ID numbers are a string of 12 random nu??mbers, and if even one number is wrong, you’ve likely got a doppelganger on your hands. 

If you want to play That’s Not My Neighbor, or if you loved Papers, Please and have an itch to play a similar game, I’d recommend doing so. It’s available now on itch.io, and for only 2.99 USD, it’s worth every penny. The game isn’t entirely complete, and according to ?the menu and the developer, there are more game modes coming in the future. 

My only recommendation i?s to keep a pen and paper handy if your me??mory is even half as bad as mine. 

The post That’s Not My Neighbour brings back fond memories of Papers Please but with monsters appeared first on Destructoid.

Games, zines, books, and other

It’s been a harrowing year for the LGBTQ+ community, not just in the United States, but across the world. It’s been a record year for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, which is imm??ensely? depressing.

So, for this very important Pride Month, the itch.io Queer Games Bundle returns with the goal of providing some much??-ne?eded funds to LGBTQ+ creators who would often be otherwise overlooked. These are people who just want to make or supplement a living making games, art, and other content, and the bundle gives them some money to do just that.

The Queer Games Bundle describes itself as “A bundle of over 450 games, software, and zines from nearly 300 queer artists across itch.io.�A glance over its immense contents shows everything from more mainstream titles like Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance to emotionally charged art games like He Fucked the Girl Out of Me.

The hosts of the bundle are suggesting a $60 all-in price tag, but you? can pay what you want so long as it’s over $10. Proceeds go to developers who opted-in to get some of the funding.

Note that there is a wide range of topics covered in these games, books, zines, and tabletops, including some decidedly 18+ things. While wading into uncomfortable territory can nurture empathy and an understanding in your fellow humans, your priority should always be to be kind to yourself,? so watch what you load ??up.

So, if you’d like a massive buffet of delicious queer art content to dig into or would just like to support the community of queer creators, take a look at the Queer Games Bundle over on itch.io. You can find the $60 version here, while the pay-what-you-want bundle is over here.

The post Queer ??Games Bundle lets you support queer creators by buying games appeared first on Destructoid.

Blast back to the '90s in a tale of pop and romance

A new kind of love story is headed to Steam, with a musical twist. Riley & Rochelle is an upcoming new mystery from Sheinman Games that sees you untangling the relationship of two musician??s.

Riley and Rochelle are two artists from different worlds, who wind up falling in an??d out of love in the '90s. Hailing from Detroit is Riley Stone, a rocker who came up through the indie music scene. Meanwhile Rochelle Robert is a fo?rmer child pageant star who gets discovered and makes her way into the spotlight.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5LO9H8YCfM

The two collide and grow closer, and it's your job to figure out how, why, and what happened after. Riley & Rochelle lets you piece together music, journal entries, and information to figure out the stor??y. Maybe, even, whether anyone gets a decent ending.

The game is a collaboration between Tim Sheinman and Natalia Yanchak, with art from Mack Chater, Murray Somerwolff, and Josiah Whitfield. And the Sheinman? Games label is what caught my eye about this in the first p?lace.

He was a boy, she was a girl

Sheinman has made several investigation-centric games in the past. One in particular I dug was Rivals, a similar mix of music and detective work that had the player piece together the his?tory of a band and its falling out.

Just the general idea of pulling together scraps of info for a VH1's Behind The Music style program is interesting enough. But the music here is spot-on, too. A clever mix of information hunting and good tunes makes for a pretty unique style of detective game.

Riley & Rochelle is currently aiming for a launch on PC and Mac. You can head on over and wishlist it on Steam at this link.

The post Riley & Rochelle is a detective game about uncovering a musical love story appeared first on Destructoid.

You can also pick up its previous versions right now

What's in a word, but an arrangement of letters? Factori is a neat-looking indie game that takes the alphabet and asks you to make "soup" and?? other words with it, factory-style.

Factori essentially seems like a mash-up between? words and logic, like if Zachtronics made a game about forming ??words. You start with just one resource, the letter i.

From there you can bend, rotate, reflect, and more, eventually making more complex letters. Then you can use those ?complex le?tters to form words, optimizing chains and hunting for secret letters.

The initial version of factori was made for the 2021 Game Maker's Toolkit Game Jam, where it took home the #1 spot. Developer Star Garden Games went on to refine the free demo into a 1.0 version, which you can currently purchase on Itch.io.

Steam-powered factori

Today's announcement, which brought this to my attention in the first place, is that Star Garden is now planning to bring factori to Steam. And it's not just a po?rt of the 1.0 version from Itch, either.

According to Star Garden's blog, factori will hit Steam with several new features. This includes a hard mod?e, which has restrictions on certain buildings that can be used. A dark ??mode is also on the way, which is always, always a good choice.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7gvQiYYDhQ

There are also more secrets, some quality-of-life improvements, and more to be announced. Basically, it sounds like Star Garden is adding a little more to the factori with each new release. And if you already dug the orig???inal idea, these new twists being added seem pretty interesting.

There's no ETA on the Steam version of factori just yet outside of a 2023 estimation. The team has set up several social platforms, including Discord, Twitter, and a newsletter, so you can be notified on any announcements. You can find it on Steam here.

The post Factori is a nea??t mash-up of letters and logic coming to Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

Great games for a good cause

Itch.io is known for its bundles of indie games that raise money for worthy causes, like the Black Lives Matter movement back in 2020 or for Ukraine earlier this year. Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, itch.io has turned its sights to creating a bundle of indie games to raise money for abortion funds. The b?undle has over 750 items from over 600 creators, valued at around $3000, but you can get it for a minimum donation of $10 (although of course, anything more than that is awesome). As som?eone who adores indie games, that's the steal of the century if you ask me.

All proceeds of the bundle will go directly towards the National Network for Abortion Fund's Collective Power Fund which, according to the bundle's official page, "moves money directly to abortion funds across 20+ U.S. states, with a particular focus on the South and Midwest (w?here it is often most difficult to get access to abortions). NNAF’s partnerships with these abortion funds provid??e direct resources and funds to many of the people most impacted by Roe v. Wade, towards immediate action."

From the sounds of it, this is a great way to ge?t started if you're looking for a way to support the cause.

//twitter.com/itchio/status/1543972913476280321

As of writing this article, the bundle has already raised over $150,000 of its $200,000 goal, and with over eight days left, I have a feeling it will surpass that number. The Ukraine bundle ended up with more than $6 million going to charity, while the Racial Equality bundle raised a whopping $8.1 million.

Here's hoping that gamers will show up for reproductive rights in the same way, but considering how much the community shows up in times of need, plus what great titles there are on offer, I do??n't think we have anything to worry about.

The post Itch.io is raising money for re??productive rights with the Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds appeared first on Destructoid.

And it's worth every minute

You don't need to have grown up on classics like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest to dig Franken, a familiar yet fresh new indie RPG, but it'll help. The game is playable on PC through itch.io, and I highly recommend it as a super scaled-down but satisfying experience. I'll admit??, this is one of those "the less you know, the better" situations.

[caption id="attachment_321975" align="alignnone" width="1280"] _{Franken has "the most rudimentary battle system imaginable," as creator Samanthuel Louise Gillson puts it.}[/caption]

Created by splendidland, Franken was inspired by Final Fantasy IV, Moon, For Frog the Bell Tolls, and Grow RPG, among others. It's a classic RPG format pared ??down to the essentials, and it's framed so well. The quirky in-the-know characters still managed to intrigue me and crack me up, and the one-note combat system still ended up being strangely exciting.

In Franken's tu??rn-based bouts, all you can do is attack, and you don't have to heal after battles �so it's kill or be killed, and there's no menu-based busywork or unnecessary overworld meandering. The story is clear from the outset �the mighty Hell's Knight must be stopped �but it goes to unexpected places. The name *will* make sense.

I lost track of how many times silly NPC chatter, a genre-ribbing gag, or an out-of-nowhere song selection made me laugh. I had a smile on my face more often ??????????????????????????than not.

[caption id="attachment_321976" align="alignnone" width="1280"] _{I couldn't resist talking to every random NPC, and I don't regret it.}[/caption]

The game floated into my timeline thanks to a retweet from Spelunky creator Derek Yu, ??and I only planned to take a peek, not play through the whole thing. Whoopsie.

After finishing Franken, I saw that Dunkey recently made a video about it, though I'd recommend playing it for yourself if it seems even remotely appealing to your sensibilities. For what it's worth, I'm really not that much of an old-school Dragon Quest sorta guy!

Franken is a fully-formed RPG in a subversive one-hour-or-less package, and it rules??.

The post Franken is a fu?nny, free, fresh RPG you can finish in under an hour appeared first on Destructoid.

Eat sh!t, Greg Abbott

It's important to remember with all the terrible stuff happening abroad right now that there is plenty of terrible stuff going on in the United States. You've probably seen the report??s of the awful pieces of legislation making their way through state legislatures targeting the LGBTQ community (not to mention all of the legislation being passed targeting how we teach about historic racism in America, which is a whole clusterfuck of itself).

In Florida, we have the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which could create a legal minefield for teachers if discussions of LGBTQ topics come up in class. Big props to Disney for continuing to support the legislators behind it. Arkansas has signed legislation banning trans girls from participating in school sports. Arkansas is also one of the unhealthiest states in the US, so I really don't think they should be discouraging anyone from participating in physica?l activities.

Finally, we have Texas Governor Greg Abbott. In a truly sick and twisted directive, Abbott has called on members of the public to report parents who are allowing their kids to receive gender-affirming medical care to authorities. This is in accordance with an opinion? released by Texas Attorney General? Ken Paxton which claimed such medical treatmen?t amounted to child abuse in the state. Investigations are already underway on parents, though some district attorneys in T??exas are refusing to comply and the ACLU and Lambda Legal are currently fighting the directive.

How you can help

Suffice to say, it's a real shitty time to be a member of the LGBT??Q community in a red state and that's particularly true for trans individuals. They need help, and right now there is a way you can help raise funds for trans advocacy in Texas by doing what you do anyway: buying a crapload of games.

Right now at itch.io, you can get the TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas! bundle. For ju??st $5, you'll get access to 493 items/games, with proceeds going to suppor?t the Transgender Education Network of Texas and Organización Latina de Trans en Texas. Both organizations provide assistance to trans individuals in need, and if Greg Abbott's directive is allowed to continue, there are going to be a lot of trans kids needing help soon.

Now, I don't play tabletop RPGs because I'm a loser with no friends. However, members of the Destructoid team have pointed to Thirsty Sword Lesbians and Princess With a Cursed Sword as being two notable titles from the bundle. Thirsty Sword Lesbians normally asks for $15 to purchase, but again, you can get it and hun?dreds ??of other tabletop games for as little as $5.

The TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas! bundle will be a??vailable at itch.io until Sunday, April 3.

The post Get nearly 500 games for $5 with this itch.io bundle to? help the Texas trans communi??ty appeared first on Destructoid.

'Peace'

In case you were wondering Itch.io's stance on NFTs, they've made things very clear in a tweet this weekend! Here's the quick takeaway:

"NFTs are a scam. If you think they are legitimately useful for anything other than the e??xploitation of creators, financial scams, and the destruction of the planet the we ask that please reevaluate your life choices."

The tweet also went on,?? clarifying that it doesn't believe that ??NFTs actually benefit the creators, stating:

"Also f̸̗̎ú̴̩c̷̖͌ḳ̵̀ any company that say?s they support creators and also endorses NFTs in any way. They only care about their own profit and the opportunity for wealth ?above anyone else. Especially given the now easily available discourse concerning the problems of NFTs."

Again, this is coming to us in an era where nearly every company has been pressed, or forced to reveal their stance on NFTs. Companies are playing roulette with fans and investors, hoping to appease both with either shamelessly going all-in but angling it as "benefiting fans," going wholly against NFTs, or providing a "wait and see" commentary. S?ome of t?hem even went gung-ho and then called it off, which is probably the?? worst of both worlds for just about everyone.

Whatever stance they take, it generally has a ripple effect throughout the industry in some form. Much like the practice in general, it's the wild west. A lot of these companies lack media training, and the mouthpieces that announce pro-NFT plans are often clueless, and have no plan of attack for any sort of bad press or reaction. Even folks who do have media training are struggling!

In any case, Itch.i??o's stance on NFTs won't be the last word on this pretty insane land?scape we're dealing with right now.

The post Itch.io’s stance on NFTs: ‘They are a scam’ appeared first on Destructoid.

A pine-scented breath of fresh air

When I'm feeling overwhelmed with all the games I want to play, sometimes the perfect antidote is putting on something short that I can finish in an afternoon. After perusing through an itch.io bundle that I've had sitting around for over a year, I decided on Wide Ocean Big Jacket, and thankfully it was everything I needed from ga?mes right now.

Published by Tender Claws in February of 2020, Wide Ocean Big Jacket is the debut title from indie studio Turnfollow. It's certainly one of the quirkier games I've played of late, and I mean that in the best possible way. It'?s a really simple walking sim game with a simple, offbeat art style. The story is told in a series of short vignettes, telling the story of a young girl named Mord, her boyfriend Ben, her aunt Cloanne, and uncle Brad as they spend a night camping.

After the past few years of quarantine, I've really been missing the outdoor time my family used to spend together when I was growing up at the foot of the Appalachian mountains. Wide Ocean Big Jacket felt really familiar to me in a way that I didn't expect, and even though the art style is super minimal, this game came in to take me right back ??to those summers hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's a game that makes you kind of stop and take it all in, which I didn't realize how much I?? needed until I got it.

And Wide Ocean Big Jacket is hilarious. I was fully laughing out loud at points, especially when it came to Mord and Ben's dialogue. It's really difficult to write kids,? but it's even harder to write them in a way that's both believ??able and stylized. Both of them have such fun, distinct personalities, and perfectly capture the awkwardness of a first relationship.

For all its restraint, the game really manages to use everything at its disposal to great effect. Even the interact preview text seems to have a mind of its own,? and make??s for some of the best jokes of the whole run. I was also impressed with the sound design, because the attention to detail there is what really made the environments feel alive.

While being a sweet little slice-of-life game, Wide Ocean Big Jacket also manages to land some genuine emotional beats. I was impressed with its ability to maintain its unique tone and charm while still touching on tough topics like divorce, losing one's virginity, and the marital dilemma of having children. It feels more like these are real people that we're ??looking in on, with all their quirks and flaws and strengths.

I can't stress enough how impressed I am with these characterizations �Wide Ocean Big Jacket manages to create some of the most distinct style and characters in a game ?I've ever ??seen, and all under a two-hour runtime.

Any skepticism I have about the current state of games is entirely my own fault, because the indie scene has never been stronger. If your library is feeling a bit stale these days, I really recommend you go seek out some small, simple indie games to try, because recently they've completely revitalized my hop?e in the industry. I may be late to the party on a lot of these titles, but at least?? I still showed up, right?

Story Beat is a weekly column discussing anything and everything to do with storytelling in video games.

The post Wide Ocean Big Jacket was the?? hilarious camping getaway I needed appeared first on Destructoid.

Giving some small indie games a chance

In recent years, I haven't branched out as much as I'd like when it comes to my gaming taste. I did venture away from exclusively playing AAA games, but the indies I played were the huge titles that may as well be AAA at this point just based on their ubiquity, like Hades, Disco Elysium, Stardew Valley, and so on.

I really love AAA games, but when I sit down to play one, I pretty much know right away what to expect in terms of the overall experience. When I got to thinking about everything that's releasing in 2022, I found myself feeling less enthused than usual. Don't get me wrong, there are some huge, genuinely really exciting games coming out this year, like Horizon Forbidden West, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok, but none of them have me counting down the days until their relea??se.

That got me thinking, is there anything I'm excited about when it ??comes to games this year? Well yeah, of course there is. I wouldn't write about them for a living if that wasn't the case. As I started thinking about it, I realized I'm more excited for the games I don't know about than the ones that I do.

[caption id="attachment_303920" align="alignnone" width="1600"] _{[Image Source: Common Sense Media]}[/caption]There are so, so many games out in the world, and a vast majority of them won't get a fraction of the attention even lesser-known indie games will receive. The thing i?s, though, these super small indie games are often the ones doing some of the most unique and interesting things to push games forward. They tell the stories we wouldn't otherwise hear, and they incorporate experimental mechanics that would never make the final cut of a triple-A game. Without all the corporate red tape, small games really get to shine, and show off the endless potential of what the interactive mediu?m can do.

Most of these super-small games won't even get trailers �you kind of have to hear about them through word of mouth, or just actively s??eek them out. While I wish many of these types of games would get more of a chance, there is something cool about coming across a passion project someone worked really hard on but didn't expect anyone to see. When you take aw??ay the business side of any art, you know you're getting someone's vision, pristine and undisturbed, for better or for worse.

[caption id="attachment_303926" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{[Image Source: Overland on Steam]}[/caption]My plan this year is to just be on the lookout for anything and everything that piques my interest. When I see someone post about their game on Twitter that's finally out, I want to take a look, or really list??en when my friends tell me to check out a game they liked.

There are tons of amazing indie festivals and conferences that showcase these types of projects. Reddit is home to some great indie communities where devs post their progress, so I'll be scouring those, too. Organizations like WINGS and GLITCH are invested in funding ?and publishing diverse indie voices. I also have one of those massive itch.io bundles that I bought? last summer that I haven't even looked through yet, so I know there's gonna be a lot of good stuff in there, too.

With all of the huge games that are constantly coming out o??f bigger studios, it can be easy to forget how much of the gaming industry is little games made by single people or small teams, simply because th??ey love them. Open source tools, and websites like itch.io have made it easier than ever for people to share their work, so at this point I really have no excuse. Now I'm looking forward to 2022 being the year that I really immerse myself into the indie scene, because although indies make up most of my "favorite games of all time" list, there is still so, so much to see. Looking forward, I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that my favorite game of 2022 will be one I haven't even heard of yet.

The post The games I’m most excited for in 2022 are the ones I don’t know about appeared first on Destructoid.

This is what you can order off the secret menu

It??’s sort of my role here at Destructoid to look at more obscure titles. That’s not because it’s my assignment, it’s legitimately ?what I enjoy doing. I’ve seen some complain that this year has not been a very exciting one in the industry, but I beg to differ. There was a lot to fall in love with if you looked under the right rocks.

Here’s a list of? some of my favorites of 2021 gems that you may have m?issed. Each of them left a lasting impact on me, regardless of how short the experience may have been. If you think the year has been something of a disappointment, maybe check out these gems.

Bloodwash

If I’m remembering correctly, it was this year that I finally started exploring the lo-fi horror underground of the indie market. The sub-genre hooked me quickly because it represents horror like it’s never been done before. Short, ugly, and impactful. The games absolutely embody the slasher VHS flicks found at the back of video stores. I assume. This may sur?prise you, but I’m not actually old enough to have experienced that.

What grabbed me about Bloodwash is that you’re given a lot of agency on what actions you take while you wait for your laundry. You can go around the gloomy shopping plaza and dig into? the mystery of the womb-ripper, or you can play somewhat tacky video games until the clock winds down. It gives the horror an organic feel, even if you’re generally going to land in the same place anywa??y.

In typical lo-fi horror fashion, this 2021 gem is over in less than 2 hours, but it’s one that has kept me thinking about it since I played it. There are lots of places to explore in this fledgling sub-genre, but from where I’m standing, Bloodwash is top shelf. That??’s where they keep the real hardcore horror. Right? I’m honestl?y not sure. That’s probably just where they keep titles A-F.

Happy’s Humble Burger Farm

You might have missed this 2021 gem simply because it was released in early December, a time of the year when we all catch up on our backlogs and new releases might as well not even exist. Made by Scythe Dev Team, one of the underground groups creating lo-fi horror, Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is what happens when you give one of t???hose creators a budget.

What captivated me most about Happy’s Humble Burger Farm was its central sandwich-making gameplay. The fact that a horror game has been based around the terrors of the service industry is pretty clever to begin with, but then you add in sandwich-centric boss battles and you have me drooling. Then you further tie in Scythe Dev Team’s surreal, dream-like storytelling and you don’t want to miss this. Even if the gameplay isn’t perfect, you probably haven’t played anything like ?it.

Perfect Gold

Romantic narratives can be extremely hit and miss because it’s deeply subjective. Some of the finest love stories I’ve encountered recently have been in ecchi visual novels that Destructoid doesn’t let me review. However, Perfect Gold isn’t ecchi, so I can freely talk about it.

Damn, Perfect Gold is one cute story about a pair of young almost-lovers. They hook up in ??the prologue, and the next thing you know, it’s jumped ahead to the next year and they absolutely resent each other. Throughout the stor??????????????????????????y, it’s revealed what happened in the intervening time, and you get to follow the characters as they attempt to reconcile.

Perfect Gold is straight-up a visual novel with neither bells nor whistles. You make some pretty shallow dialogue choices throughout, but unless you’re trying to intentionally spoke-jam the relationship, you’re n??ot at risk of running into a bad ending. With that said, it was the most fulfilling narrative I encountered all year.

Cruelty Squad

Cruelty Squad is art, but it’s the sort of art that makes you uncomfortable. This 2021 gem is like a Rennaisance painting of the devil jamming a hot poker into some guy’s butthole. You get the gist of what it’s trying to say, but you’re like, “Why did the artist take this approach? Are they terrified or aroused by the prospect of a crispy butthole?�/p>

From its garish and ugly aesthetic to some intentionally (?) bad game design, Cruelty Squad might be a tough se?ll. I’m not going to say that it’s saved by the gameplay, becau?se it’s not. No, it just somehow claws its way into your skull and starts whispering directly into the wrinkles in your brain. I haven’t seen anything like it. Ever. And it makes me want more.

Technically Cruelty Squad is a meatpunk immersive sim. You’re dropped into the level to assassinate someone, and it’s on you to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible. Then as it proceeds, you descend further and further into corporate hell. And maybe if you search that fiery butthole closely enough, you might find some hidden subtext, but your family might start questioning your fascinatio?n with buttholes.

Actraiser Rennaisance

This one came and went quickly. It was the most exciting thing I saw during the Nintendo Direct in which it was announced. I promptly challenged Chris Carter to an arm wrestle over who got to review it, but fortunately, I won by default because he wound up not havi?ng the time. So, off??icially, I beat Chris Carter in an arm wrestle. I will now retire undefeated.

Anyhow, Actraiser Rennaisance is a remake of the Super Nintendo classic, Actraiser. However, the developers went back and layered on some new gameplay elements to elevate the gameplay. What made Actraiser special is still uncha??nged, but now there’s a deeper story and some tower defense elements. It’s all placed on top of the existing sidescrol??ling and city-building elements like some delicious sandwich.

It was the most comfortable experience I think I had writing a review this year, even though I tore through it in the span of a weekend. Actraiser was always sort of a calm??ing game, and that’s not lost with the remake. It has a nice mix of action and contemplative downtime that is absolutely infectious.

Unfortunately, there’s a stuttering issue on the side-scrolling sections, reportedly on all versions. We’re months out, and it still hasn’t been patched. It didn’t impact the?? gameplay huge?ly for me, but I know some will find it distracting.

Buck Up and Drive

Buck Up and Drive is a bit of a small, experimental 2021 gem in its own right. However, instead of testing new ways to convey narrative, it tries to push just how over-the-top a driving game can get. It’s like if you crossed OutRun with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. It’s like if raster graphic racing games hadn’t been superseded by 3D polygons and a game needed a dash of insanity to stand out from the crowd.

Drifting, boosting, hitting jumps, and flipping out like you just clipped the level geometry and the physics don’t know how to cope with the math explosion; Buck Up and Drive is about as far removed as you can be from reality and still involve cars. You battle police with sick drifts, grind on guardrails, and duel against other car?s.

It doesn’t take long to see pretty much all Buck Up and Drive has to offer, but it takes time to learn all the ins and outs and it’s fun while it lasts. It’s currently only available on Itch.io, but it’s coming to Steam on January 6th.

The post Six awesome games you might have missed in 2021 appeared first on Destructoid.

It's a cute time-waster and it's totally free

When I use the term "time-waster," I do so affectionately �Deepest Sword is exactly what it needs to be. It's a free indie game (playable on Steam, Itch.io, and Newgrounds) where yo?u're a little adventurer with ?an even littler sword who needs to stab a dragon's heart.

All you have to do is stroll over to the drag??on and plunge it in... but it's too short to reach! E??very time you fail to pierce the beast's heart, you'll get another crack at it.

You'll start back at the beginning with a longer sword, and the level grows in scope, too. There are five cycles to squeeze through to reach t??he climax and see your c?ompletion time; for a while there, I wasn't sure I'd make it. I almost tapped out during the final push.

Hey, get your mind out of the gutter.

The challenge of Deepest Sword is? deceptive in a funky physics sort of way. Your hero can't effortlessly leap from platform to platform. Heck, they can't jump at all.

Instead, you've got to? walk around (using your keyboard) and carefully position the unwieldy sword (using your mouse) in such a way that you can slip through tunnels and vault over? ledges while ultimately trying not to get physically stuck once the sword becomes too long. (If you do, there are convenient checkpoints �just tap the R key.)

The creators at Cosmic Adventure Squad did a good job?? of extending the level outward during each phase while keeping things interesting as you go back through the earlier sections?? again with a longer weapon. Your sword is never ideal �it's always too short or too long �and it's a fun, if at times slightly maddening, dynamic. You know the vibe.

There's even a devilish bit toward the end of the game with a kinda-sorta fakeout after you finally wiggle up to the top of the trickiest?? are??a yet. Learn from my initial failure:

In the end, I beat Deepest Sword in around 28 minutes �but it's possible to clear it in under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Yep, there's an achievement. One thing I appreciate, even as someone who likely won't try again with speedrunning in mind??, is the option to jump into specific ??sections from the menu so you can fine-tune each leg of the journey.

Deepest Sword was created ?for the game jam Ludum Dare 48 (with the theme "deeper and deeper"), ?so keep your expectations in check. That said, it's cute and it's worth playing.

I kept spotting the game in Steam's Popular New Releases section, and I'm glad I went for it. The harder-than-it-looks premise brings me back to the browser games era.

If you survive the gauntlet, ??post your clear time.

The post Deepes??t Sword is a fun yet ??maddening platformer about a little sword that grows appeared first on Destructoid.

After receiving an absolute outpouring of responses from the internet, Itch.io has finally released its latest indie game bundle, consisting of 1,020 games by 865 creators. What started as a simple call to developers to add games to a Pa??lestinian food/medical relief bundle soon grew into the behemoth we are prese?nted with now.

All of the money is being donated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides "food assistance for over one million Palestinians, and continues to do so in the territories with heavy destruction" and "emergency mental and physical health protection for those in the region," according to the Itch.io forum post.

The headliner title for this bundle encapsulates the horror of the situation in Palestine, titled Liyla and The Shadows Of War. Created by Rasheed Abueideh, a Palestinian, the game is based on true and devastating events that occur in Gaza due to the war with Israe??l. This is definitely first on my to-play list in the bundle.

As for other games I'm looking forward to playing, I noticed Calico and Cook, Serve, Delicious 2 are on the list and both have been in my sights for a while. There's also a SUPERHOT and Baba is You crossover game called SUPER IS HOT that absolutely has my attention.

Some recognizably big names are Minit, Nuclear Throne, Signs of the Soujourner, Anodyne, and Orwell. Want some hidden gems? Play Sandstorm, And All Would Cry Beware!, Fit for a King, and ART SQOOL. For more suggestions from someone who isn't me, check out Colin Spacetwinks or Dominic Tarason's suggestions on Twitter.

Considering the bundle is only a five-dollar minimum, there is no good reason to pass this up! The bundle will run until June 11, so get buying!

The post Itch.io’s indie bundle for Palestinian aid is live and contains over 1,000 games appeared first on Destructoid.

Criss-cross applesauce

Are you in the mood for an experimental narrative art game about?? people turning into apples and having to pay rent? I can see by your expression that you’re not sure. Okay, how about this: D?o you have fifteen minutes and feel like spending it being inexplicably uncomfortable?

I see I have your attention.

In Apple Sauce Apartments, you play as a hapless lackey to a greedy landlord who gives you one task: collect rent from all the low-life tenants. Each one will give you a sob story about how rent is oppressive, society is exploitative, and maybe if the landlord wanted payment, he should fix the problem with the mold that turns people into fruit. You can ask questions to send them of??f on verbose, cryptic tangents until you’re presented with the choice to collect rent or don’t.

It’s a simple formula, but it’s aesthetically captivating. Its bizarre, distorted visuals and unsettling, looping soundtrack create the sort o?f gnawing feeling you get when you can’t remember if you left the stov??e on or not.

It’s also provided by ShallowLagoon for free! Or you could throw the creator a few bucks, because, even though Apple Sauce Apartments is a short experimental narrative, it’s still a creative endeavor, and that’s always worth something. At least check it out here on itch.io.

The post Apple Sauce Apartments is an experimental? narrative about capitalism, maybe? appeared first on Destructoid.

A timeless adventure game with new music and 'enhanced' graphics and sounds

Whatever happened to Samorost, the darling point-and-click space gnome adventure we played in our browsers in the early 2000s? Don't worry, it hasn't been lost to the ravages of time. It's here — right here, actually. You can play a remastered version on Steam, itch.io, iOS, and Android. Best of all, it's free.

You might not be able to put your finger on what's different if it's been years since you've played Samorost, but as the video seems to suggest, there are touch-ups. According to Amanita Design, this new version for 2021 ??has "re?mastered sounds, enhanced graphics, and new music by Floex."

I had a lot of love for Samorost back?? then and I still do today. It put this team on the map for me.

As for what's next for Amanita Design, more adventuring. The studio's next project, Happy Game, is freakier than you'd ex??pect?? — by like a few orders of magnitude. It's expected to hit Steam in 2021.

Also, I won't lie: that long branch extending out into? another tree's "mouth" still cracks?? me up.

The post Samorost is ??back with a free?? enhanced version on PC, iOS, and Android appeared first on Destructoid.

Giving 100%

Ind??ie games platform Itch.io has been a haven for independent creators for some time, and today, it's launching a new campaig??n to help support them even more.

Today, M?ay 14, is the first Itch.io Creator Day. From midnight to 11:59 p.m. PT, Itch won't take its usual cut of sales on the site—so 100% of sales (after taxes and payment processing fees) will go directly to developers, artists, musicians, and creators on the storefront.

ðŸ—“ï¸ THIS FRIDAY is our first ever @itchio Creator Day!

What's that? We're setting everyone's revenue share to 100% for 24 hours. Learn more here: //t.co/sRq7CpdI0d

Thanks for being incredible and supporting @itchio and all the creators we host #gamedev

— itch.io (@itchio) May 12, 2021

Much like Bandcamp Friday, this seems like a great way to support some indie creators. Lots of them are posting threads on social media of their various games, and some have even banded together to form a bundle in honor of the day.

Itch.io has been in the news recently, thanks to it being dragged into the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Epic. But aside from having a good sense of humor, Itch has also provided a platform for tons of interesting, offbeat games and hosted massive charity bundles.

So yeah, later today I'll be taking a tour through ??the various tags of Itch.io to find some rad new games to add to my collection. Itch says it hopes to make this a regular event, not just providing more revenue but ?also a good excuse for developers to share and promote their work. If you have any you want to shout out, drop 'em down below!

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AIM is dead, on to Facenook

The Emily is Away series has been two-for-two for both r?esurfacing fond memories of long-gone messenger days and also tugging directly on my heartstrings. Today, the third game arrives on Steam and It??ch to, presumably, attempt the same.

Emily is Away <3 is a brand-new story, once again set purely online. The difference now is, rather than the old faux AOL Instant Messenger application, Emily is Away <3 takes place in the halcyon days of Facebook (excuse me, Facenook), circa 2008.

You can still chat of course, only it's over the Facenook messenger interface. There are also wall posts, tagged photos, and poke fights. It is, much like previous Emily is Away games, a concentrated blast of aught-nostalgia. 

And of co?urse, there are branching p?aths and conversation choices that will result in different endings. Will the conversations you hold online reinforce real-life relationships, or burn them to the ground? Will you, true to real-life, start a fight over answering an event invite with a "Maybe" instead of Yes or No? God, I hope so.

While these games are definitely a laser-targeted, heart-rending nostalgia blast for a certain generation (read: mine), Emily is Away <3 is probably worth a look for anyone who enjoys narrative storytelling done in unique interfaces. It's not like many stories are told in Facenook messenger, y'know. You can find it on Steam and Itch.io.

The post Social media nostalgia trip Emily is Away &l??t;3 is out today appeared first on Destructoid.

Promoted from our Community Blogs

_{[Manasteel88 is here to tell you about their recent excursions into game development, and it looks like they brought their kid along for the ride too! In fact, they've even been kind enough to share some links to the cool stuff that both they and their kid created, so be a pal, check them out, and let them know what you think!} 

_{If you head on over to the community blogs, slap some good words and images together, and post it for all to see, you too could find your work on the front page of Destructoid! It's a thing that happens! These exclamation marks are free, and I'm never going to stop using them! Please, understand! - Kevin]}

So, since I had such a good time with the kid making a game back in ??June, I figured I would enter another game jam. This time, we both would give it our all and try our best to create something unique and true to our core as we work on improving our understanding of game design.

The good news is we did it. The bad?? news i?s it sort of broke us down a bit.

It started really well actually. I built a U.I. in some free time and was looking for a project to test it on. The kid was working on story design elements. We were doing everything you would expect leading up ??to a game jam. Getting-the-ducks-in-a-row type stuff. Then the jam started, and we were just lost.

The kid lost all motivation on her Unicorn project half way through. She had an idea she really loved and couldn't find any way to express it. She eventually canned the project, with a week to go, to work on the first project we had thought to do based on The Three Little Pigs. The resu??lt??s were a rushed amalgamation of her original idea, but she completed it and had it ready to go the day before the Jam deadline.

As for me, I just could not focus on writing a story, which is apt because the contest i??s literally called the "I Can't Write But Want To Tell A Story" jam. My brain was in "do something interesting" mode, not "do something creative". So, I built an achievement system instead of writing the ending. I built a calendar system instead of working on plot points. I was messing around with fine-tuning insignificant details instead of art assets.

All those little tweaks and twiddles eventually caused errors and, being a guy that is learning as he goes, I spent hours on problems that should take a h?alf-decent creato??r minutes.

All that said however, I crunched hard on the last few days and created something I really am satisfied with. Is it perfect? God no. I have a full devlog page full of ideas and woes that I had to comp??romise or trash due to time constraints.

I was, however, satisfied with the project that I had built. After the Ugly Game, I wanted to create something just a bit more in line with what I could do, so I focused? hard on the things that I struggled to figure out. I didn't know variables, so this game is almost all variables with consequences. I didn't know how to animate images all that well, so I learned h?ow to craft animations. Did I need to animate a pie with two days left and the game's four major events unwritten? No. But, it was my goal to learn, and I accomplished it.

I didn't need to create an achievement system either, bu?t my goal was to learn how to manipulate screens, and making that achievement screen work filled me with joy. I got a story ?finalized during the crunch and turned in with 20 minutes to spare before it was due. The game was 99.99% complete, and I was legitimately happy with it. That extra 0.01% was a handful of bugs I found the next day (after some much needed sleep).

The fact that I spent hours combing through code to find a seven that should?? have been a six or an " = " that was left out of one line kinda killed me. Simple errors, but ones that make you feel a bit worse when you put so much time in to creating a system to weed out those exact kind of errors.

In the end though, I lea?rned a lot creating this game. Judging is still ongoing, so I have no idea how I did with it, but I felt so incomplete after the Ugly Game finished. I feel at least somewhat satisfied with this game, even though I know how much more I could have done.

The goal of the projec??t was to give my kid the feeling of being back in school, in a world where she's not going to have that feeling for anywhere from six months to a year. She really did enjoy it and the characters she gave ideas for became some of my favorit??es.

Also, while I'm at it, I just want to thank the handful of people who checked out my kid's game from the Father's Day blog. It wasn't a big deal, but man did she ?get excited having more views and downloads than her dad. The kid jumped for joy.

Procrastination Download Page:
//hardluck.itch.io/procrastination
Procrastination Behind the Scenes:
//?hardluck.itch.io/procrastination/devlog/169317/procrastination-behind?-the-scenes

Any feedback, I take to heart. I had people with issues about the font and spacing, and I made a small font version and implemented c??ode into m??y UI for it, so I'll have it next game. I'm trying to figure things out as I go along, so it really helps.

And i??f you want to check out t??he kid's page, please do.

The Three Little Pigs Page:
//hardluck.itch.io/the-three-little-pigs

The post Game development is hard appeared first on Destructoid.

Over 800,000 total donations

Donations are now closed on itch.io's Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, which offered an incredible selection of PC software for a minimum of just five dollars. As of?? this writing, the bundle closed out at an incredible total of $8.1 million USD, raised from just over 814,000 donations.

Launching a little over a week ago with an initial goal of $5 million, the software compendium continued to grow in size as momentum increased, eventually offering over 1,700 games, tools, soundtracks, and visual novels by the campaign's final hours. This included great titles such as Celeste, Octodad, A Short Hike, Oxenfree, Wheels of Aurelia, Nuclear Throne, Runner3, Arcade Spirits, Lancer, Gnog, Minit, and hundreds more. The average dona?tion was a little over 10 bucks, while the single biggest donatio??n was a huge $5,000.

The money raised will now be split evenly between two organisations: The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Community Bail Fund. A secondary bundle, The Black Lives Matter Support Bundle, is still live on itch.io for one more day, and is just $1,500 shy of reaching its $100,000 goal. 

Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality [itch.io] 

The post itch.io’s Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality raised an amazing $8.1 million appeared first on Destructoid.

Software bundle now features over 1,500 items

In an incredible show of community spirit, the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has amassed an astounding $6 million USD in total donations since its launch just over one week ago. Still available over on the itch.io website, the ever-?expanding bundle currently offers over 1,500 games, soundtracks, and visual novels for a minimum d?onation of $5 USD.

Obviously, it would be simply impossible to list all of the content contained within this mammoth package, but the bundle includes such gems as Nuclear Throne, Runner3, Celeste, Octodad, A Short Hike, Pikuniku, Minit, A Mortician's Tale, Wheels of Aurelia, Bleed 2 and hu??ndreds upon hundreds of other games, VNs, and tools from a?? wide variety of genres.

All you need do is meet the minimum donation to gain access to the entire catalogue, available to download direct from itch.io as individual, DRM-free executable files. All of the money raised will be split evenly between The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Community Bail Fund. Having absolutely smashed its initial $5 million USD goal?, there is still plenty of time to push the total even higher before the campaign ends Tuesday, Ju?ne 16.

Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality [itch.io]

The post Itch.io Bu?ndle for Racial Justice and Equality passes $6 million in donations appeared first on Destructoid.

The indie storefront does all they can for a righteous cause

[Disclaimer: A week after initial publication of the article, Drew Dunaj, a long time friend and collabor??ator of the author submitted his game to bundle. The au??thor did not work on any game included in this bundle.]

[Update: Itch.io's inspiring Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has raised over $3 million in support of the ?NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund as of June 9,?? 2020.

The list of games is growing by the day with newcomers like Nuclear Throne, Runner3, Gnog, Octodad, Long Gone Days, and Celeste. With a $5 donation, you'll get over a thousand PC games, man??y of which are single-handedly worth more than the five-dollar min??imum. It's a lifetime's backlog in one bundle.

The team says it's "working on u?pdating the UI to make it easier to browse." Next up? $5M.]

We are at a crossroads in America with regard to racial injustice. To say that we have?? seen enough of unwarranted minority deaths at the hands of our justice system would be an understatement. The time for change has come and we are seeing multiple people - and companies - stepping up to grab the bull of oppression by the horns and say "no more."

Indie PC storefront and all-around great website itch.io is not letting this moment pass by without doing their part to help. Curre??ntly, on the site, there are (at least) two bundles going that aim to bring money and eyes to causes that need capital and exposure.

For those of you who like to have their games on Steam, there is the Black Lives Matter Support Bundle. Boasting up to 20 games with a minimum entry of 20 dollars, the bundle includes one of my favorite under-the-radar titles of Chambara, a two-tone multiplayer where you use the environment to blend into the world and sneakily kill your opponent. All of the money raised from this bundle will go towards the Black Lives Matter foundation.

If you aren't bound to Steam (and you shouldn't be), then the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is the one that y??ou'll want to jump in on. For a minimum of five dollars, you will get access to quite literally more games than I can list here. You will have to go through the list and manually activate them so they are assigned to your accoun??t, after which you can download DRM-free executables through the site or itch.io app.

There are a total of 743 games included with this bundle, all included with the base tier. Recent indie darlings such as Oxenfree, A Mortician's Tale, and Night in the Woods are some of the games included, with one of my all-time favorite torture devices Super Hexagon along for the ride as well. I can??'t even begin to crack how many games are here and I'll likely be perusing through this list for a few days.

Of course, it's recommended that you donate more than the base limit. It seems that many already have, with the average donation looking to be around $15 the time of writing and the top donation being $2,000. Even that is a steal as the price of this bundle if bought individually is $3.5K. As of writing, the bundle has already made a total $170,000, to be split between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Community Bail Fund.

While thi?s isn't something you should wait on, the Black Lives Matter bundle will be available through June 17, while the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality will run through the early morning hours of June 15.

The post (U??pdate) ?Itch.io has a bundle with more games than I can list to raise support for racial equality appeared first on Destructoid.

17 spooky PC games to sample

Video game demo discs had a simple joy to them. Today, they feel like a lost art, but for some of us, they left a lasting impression – they helped define our interest in video games as a lifelong hob???by.

Assorted independent PC? horror game creators are banding together to replicate the old compilation experience. On February 6, 2020, they plan to release 17 demos in a "Haunted PS1" demo disc.

Hey everyone, good news! We've set a release date for the Demo Disc and the list ????of demos is decided.

The Demo Disc will release on Thursday The 6th of February at //t.co/1TAOXhRifN and will include demos of the games listed in the cover image below! pic.twitter.com/S598UhOjaV

— HauntedPS1 (@HauntedPs1) January 30, 2020

The scu??ffed-up disc case and noisy cover art perfectly capture the mood they're going for with this m?id-'90s-inspired project, and I'm especially fond of the tagline "Try 'em before they getcha!"

The nostalgia pull doesn't end there. Beyond some cool artwork, many of the games themselves will feel right at home to anyone who grew up playing chunky 3D horror games on PlayStation or elsewhere. To be clear, these PC titles are "made to be ??reminiscent of the era but on modern engines."

The full collection will be available on itch.io. In the meantime, you can follow along at @HauntedPS1.

I've seen bits and pieces of this lo-fi horror scene before, and it's always looked intriguing. That said, bu??ndling a bunch of games together in a slick format is a smart audience-building move. ?I'm into it.

[Via PC Gamer]

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Super Rad Charityrun

TRU FUN Entertainment is partnering up with Can Do MS to raise money for charity. Throughout September, all sales of Super Rad Raygun on itch.io will see proceeds go towards Can Do MS. Founded in 1984, the foundation funds research for cures to Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that Super Rad Raygun's co-creator Ch?ris Bryant suffers from.?? As such, this cause is particularly close to his heart.

The inspiration for the battery system of Raygun was inspired by his struggles with the disease. While knocking around ideas for a follow-up to their XBLIG title Rad Raygun, both Bryant and Chris Hernandez (the other half of TRU FUN Entertainment) were seeing ?the sights of Seattle during their visit to PAX Prime 2013. Bryant's MS would consistently take a toll on his body every 10 to 15 minutes, which required him to sit and rest to regain his strength.

During one of these breaks, the team brainstormed how they could incorporate the struggles of MS into a game mechanic. Bryant thought up of the battery system in Super Rad Raygun, which allows the main cha??racter to combine many powerful abilities at once. The more things enabled, the more energy you'll burn through, which then requires you to wait if you expend all of your energy. It's a nifty mechan??ic, but one that becomes particularly poignant from its real-life inspiration.

That was actually lost on me when I initially played the game, but my discussion with Bryant the following year at a convention gave me a greater appreciation for the work done. Super Rad Raygun isn't perfect, but it's damn good and well worth it for fans of 90s platformers. I'd urge everyone to grab it this month, especially since the proceeds will be going to a great cause. If you happen to already own the game, though, a separate page is available to let ??you directly donate to the charity.

The post Support ‘Can Do MS’ by buying Super Rad Raygun this month appeared first on Destructoid.

Bird is the word

A Short Hike is a relaxed game about an adorable bird, going on a walk through the countryside, with the hopes of finding cell phone reception. It original??ly released as a part of the Humble Monthly program back in April, but it’s now finally seeing an official launch, and it’s p?acking some new content as well to celebrate the occasion.

This is one of those "palette-cleanser" games, which stand in stark contrast to the majority of what we’re used to. Over the course of the roughly two-hour playthrough, your time will almost entirely be spent exploring, while never being urged to push forward at anything other than your own pace.? There are some extremely light puzzle elements, but most of the focus is on chilling out, meeting the locals, and having fun.

A Short Hike (PC)
Developer: Adamgryu
Publisher: Adamgryu
Released: July 30, 2019
MSRP: $7.99

One really badass talent the protagonist h??as is flying, and soaring through the air feels fantastic. You’ll level up the ability to glide for longer by collecting golden feathers which are hidden across the map. I never really actively sought them out so much as happened across them while venturing off the beaten path, drawn by sheer curiosity.

The level design is built in a way where you’re naturally funneled into areas that lead you towards various objectives, but it still somehow feels like you’re always in control of where you want to go and what you want to do. There’s also a few side quests and activities to distract you from the main journey. Once I obtained a fishing rod, I made a point of ?stopping by every single body of water, casting my line, and trying to find all of the different species. Each new fish I’d catch could then be exchanged for a cash reward and duplicates swapped for special bait that can help lure in prey even faster.

The fishing mechanic is part of a new update to the game, which wasn’t present in the original Humble release. It will, however, be provided free of charge to anyone who already owns it. I’m sure there have been some other additions, but this was my first experience with A Short Hike, so I’m really not in much of a position ??to comment on the matter of these changes as a whole.

The dialogue with the locals is super cute and managed to squeeze quite a few genuine laughs out of me. In fact, I spent a great deal of this adventure smiling, and I feel like that’s a testament to just how wholesome and great A Short Hike is. This is very much a small experience, but it’s a very specific small experience, one that captures a potent feeling and milks it just enough to not overstay its welcome. Despite the fact that everyone is a talking animal, the whole thin??g comes across as down-to-Earth and genuine.

There was one moment in the early game where you learn an ability, meet an NPC who tells you about it after the first time you use it, and then the protagonist pretends like they’ve always known about this rad tidbit. Because, duh, everybody knows about that! What kind of dork do you take me for? What loser wouldn’t know something that simple? I?t’s some seriously wholesome s??hit, ya’ll. It made me giggle.

A Short Hike is part of this up-and-coming brand of games that leans in hard towards bite-sized, goofy, self-aware dorkiness, and it sits well next to stuff like Grace Bruxner’s Frog Detective as a steady reminder that not every game needs to be a mind-blowing adventure. Sometimes, it’s nice to not take things so seriously, and it feels good to laugh at the absurdity buried in everyday conversations. Hell, one of the strongest selling points of A Short Hike is how non-committal it is. I want more of these smaller, off-kilter experiences that, in my opinion, show just how damn ra??d the indie scene is.

My biggest complaint is that what’s here eventually ends, and it’s over way too soon. Its runtime is a bit of a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the experience is over before it even remotely has a chance to grow stale. On the other hand, the final moments suffer from a lack of setup and character development. Without diving into spoilers, the climax consists of some seriou??sly heavy stuff that’s just kind of anvil-dropped on you like it’s no big deal. Without any major foreshadowing, the whole scene rings a tad hollow.

A Short Hike is far from perfect, but it abso??lutely is unique and worth your t?ime. It's also super fucking rad, and I love it. Warts and all. If you’re looking for something different, and you don’t mind the price of admission, I think this is more than worth the price of entry. It may not be perfect, but life never is, and that’s fine and beautiful in its own way.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: A Short Hike appeared first on Destructoid.

Scratching that itch.io episode 2

Do you ever want to play games where you?'re just....driving? Soaking in the environment, having conversations, and listening to whatever pops on the radio? Well, I've got thr??ee games lined up based on that premise on this week's episode of Scratching that itch.io.

• Northbound is a road trip game with some chill vibes, laid back indie tunes, and heavy themes of friendship in adulthood. 
• The Shadows that Run Alongside our Car takes place during the zombie apocalypse, as two people who would otherwise never talk start to discover more about each other and themselves. 
• Bird of Passage asks players to help an inter-dimensional being find peace by talking to taxi drivers. Discovering more about this being through branching dialogue trees doesn't stop getting interesting until the game is over.

You can download all of these games for free here!

The post Indie games in cars getting emotional appeared first on Destructoid.

Scratching that itch.io

There are so many videogames out there. From small school and passion projects to long-term, single developer titles, to big-budget A?AA games, there is just no way to p?lay them all. But damn if I don't have a yearning to explore the indie scene more and more each day. I think I owe a lot of that to Destructoid and its early indie features like Indie Nation.

Anyway, I'd like to continue that trend with a video series I call "Sc?rat??ching that itch.io" in which I explore the vast depth of the indie game website itch.io and highlight some interesting (though not always stellar) titles. 

For this first episode, I wanted to focus on first-p?erson games. Three caught my attention in one way or another.

• 3:00AM at The Krusty Krab is a horror game set in the Krusty Krab and really do you need to know anything more?
• Routine Feat is depressing as hell, and I love that. In fact, it was so depressing I couldn't even finish it....
• And All Would Cry Beware! hooked me with its visuals and kept me with its solid gameplay and relatively interesting and easy-to-follow plot. 

You can check out these games here, and b??e sure to watch the video for more detai?led impressions and gameplay!

If you have any feedback or? game suggestions, I'm all ear??s!

The post SpongeBob horror and depressing routines find a hom?e in the indie scene appeared first on Destructoid.

Temmie's goin to college!

Toby Fox and Undertale are so synonymous with each other that many forget there were other people involved with the game. The lead artist for Undertale, Temmie Chang, was instrumental in bringing Toby's vision to life, adding a dash of character and charm to the proceedings. Now, she's branched off on her own to give us Escaped Chasm. A short story about a young girl alone in her home, the adventure is an incredibly short journey that will take play??ers ro??ughly half an hour to finish.

In a cool twist, it features music from Toby Fox. It also covers some of the same themes as Undertale, though with a story that comes off as more personal for Temmie. This game was a learning opportunity for Temmie and reaching the best ending (of which there are four) even hints at a possible sequel. This could become another indie hit in the vein of Undertale.

You can try out the game on Itch.io for free by clicking here. There is a "name your own price" option should you feel like throwing some money to Temmie. The trailer below may contain some spoilers, but it gives you a decent look at what Escaped Chasm is all about.

Escaped Chasm is ?a short, sad, fre?e story by Undertale's artist [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

The post Undertale artist releases free game Escaped Chasm appeared first on Destructoid.

Come join the madness

After years of wading around on its own hosted website and supporting itself through Patreon, the mother of all rogue simulations Dwarf Fortress is making its way to Steam and Itch.io in the near future. Part-management-sim, part-rogue, Dwarf Fortress has been in production since 2002 with continuo?us updates ??ever since releasing in 2006. To put this in perspective, the game's been in development longer than Steam has been around.

The basic gameplay is that you are plopped into a procedurally generated world complete with history and lore, and you can play as either an adventurer or as a leader of a fortress that must sustain itself through trade and warfare with neighboring fortresses. Dwarf Fortress is also so detailed in its world and mechanics that it makes grand?? strategies look like child's play.

The currently available build is? presented in classic ASCII artwork, which can be overwhelming at first, but the upcoming Steam release will have a tileset for those who don't enjoy staring at characters.

Dwarf Fortress has been downloadable for free from the official website since it released 13 years ago, with Patreon being used by the two-person team to support themselves through long-term development. But with rising personal healthcare costs and the "uncertainty of the [Patreon] platform," th??e developers decided to bring in another stream of income.

The game will still be available for download from the official Bay12 site for free, but the new Steam version will cost you some cash (how much is currently unknown). The nice thing a??bout paying for the Steam version is that you get access to the Steam Workshop feature with player-created mods.

It's not uncommon to see passion projects like this come to Steam as a way of getting their game to a wider audience as well as taking in some extra cash. Black Mesa, the Source Engine remake of the first Half-Life, came to Steam Early Access four years ago after be??ing available to dow??nload for free for years prior while they worked on the final Xen level.

The release date for the Steam and Itch.io versions isn't known yet but if you really wanna play Dwarf Fortress right now you can just go download it from the Bay12 website, and if you're so inclined to support the development, you can a?lways drop the team a few bucks a month on their Patreon.

The post Dwarf Fortress, the rogue game that’s been growing for 16 years, is coming to Steam and Itch.io appeared first on Destructoid.